E-fuses may be incorporated into integrated circuitry, and may serve numerous functions. For example, E-fuses may provide overcurrent and/or overvoltage protection. As another example, E-fuses may be utilized in conjunction with redundant circuitry to reroute current flow onto a redundant path in the event that faulty circuitry is identified on a primary path subsequent to a manufacturing process.
E-fuses may comprise a fuse-link between an anode and a cathode. In operation, the fuse-link may be ruptured by electromigration of material from the fuse-link to the cathode when electrical characteristics (e.g., current flow, voltage differential, etc.) across the fuse-link exceed a predetermined threshold.
Problems may occur during operation of E-fuses in that material from the fuse-link accumulates at the cathode as the fuse-link is ruptured, and such accumulating material may cause cracks or other defects to develop in structures adjacent the cathode. It would be desirable to develop new E-fuse configurations which alleviate or prevent such problems.